Dog Shedding Season Tips

 For helping dogs blow their coats, especially ones that aren't regularly bathed or groomed, washing at the beginning of the season and most of the way through is very important. My dogs have always been farm dogs and have great farm dog coats that self maintain for the most part. They also tend to be double coated, so the undercoat becomes an problem come shedding season. At beginning of the shedding season we bathe the dogs so their coats are freed up from any built up oils and dirt. This allows the hair to shed out well and not become matted. I usually bathe them once more at the end of the season to finish out the shedding, so I can one final good clean to remove the worst of the hair. During the time in between vacuuming regularly, especially places they lay or rub on, and brushing will help keep your house a little more fur free.

For the actual bathing I prefer to do a shampoo first. I now use Isle of Dogs Silky Oatmeal Shampoo. It is a very concentrated formula, so I'm still using up the puppy shampoo I originally got for Evie. I put some into a bottle at first, water down it and the stuff in the original bottle then shake well. Let it sit to unbubble after wards. Recently I also started using a technique we've used with the horses for years. Put the shampoo into a bucket or basin, then fill with water and use a sponge to work the soapy water into their coat. Then rinse using your fingers to massage through the hair to loosen things up. Using the pre-watered shampoo still works for this stage pretty well, which just boggles my mind on how concentrated it is.

Next, I condition their coat. The magic of conditioning, is it allows even more hair to fall away. By the end of my baths my dogs have half the coat they had before. That means half that build up is in your drain, but I'll talk about those solutions later. I use Isle of Dogs Silky Oatmeal Conditioner for that process. Again, I water it down well and shake. This time I just squirt some into my hand then rub it between my hands a little to spread it out and work it through their hair, just like you would do to your own. This really gets it onto each strand and helps lift off SO much hair. I don't typically worry about letting it sit because it doesn't seem to have a great need to by the time I'm done making sure its thoroughly gotten all over their body. Rinse, running your fingers through their hair. This lets you detangle and separate strands as well as tell how much more rinse you need to do. Watch your tub drain at this point because it will get stopped up and your dog will slowly have water rising up them. After you're done, slick your dog off if needed, then towel dry. If wanted and your have the means, then drying your dog with a blower gets even more hair loose. I even saw one recently that was around $20 with a built in slicker. 

That brings us to tubs and drains. For the dogs who rarely get bathed, except during shedding season I like to find a self-serve dog wash location. They're becoming more popular, so you might have luck finding one. They provide professional grade washing tubs, which have no problem with hair build up that effects you in middle of your bath, in my experience. They also often have shampoo if you want to use it and other grooming equipment. The big reminder here is, don't forget these are public tools. Try to be nice to them. Have staff help you if you have any issues. That way we all have nice tools and don't have to lug them along. Obviously a plea, from someone who has had to deal with such things. If you do more often washing, then getting a tub shroom can be a giant help. I was skeptical at first, but absolutely love mine. 

I still use it in conjunction with my bathing tub by Furesh. It was a splurge for me at $120, but it has been well worth it. Showering Evie every night has become so easy now! The best part, even Jasmine fits into it, but I would say her 30lbs, is as big as it holds. It does have an internal hair catch, but still some hair finds it's way through, and then my shroom is there to catch the rest. Evie, who isn't a huge bather, doesn't fight much on their collar attachment. Sadly you can't attach a typical grooming sling to this in any way, but hopefully you can find time to work your dog into being calm in it.